Managed Asset Portfolios LLC Increases Stock Position in PriceSmart, Inc. $PSMT

Managed Asset Portfolios LLC grew its stake in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 37.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 149,653 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 40,776 shares during the quarter. PriceSmart makes up approximately 2.0% of Managed Asset Portfolios LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Managed Asset Portfolios LLC’s holdings in PriceSmart were worth $15,720,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in PriceSmart by 28.7% in the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 10,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $922,000 after acquiring an additional 2,341 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 2,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its position in shares of PriceSmart by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 77,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,748 shares during the last quarter. Burney Co. raised its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 70.4% during the 1st quarter. Burney Co. now owns 92,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,168,000 after buying an additional 38,399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP lifted its position in PriceSmart by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 21,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,895,000 after buying an additional 644 shares during the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at PriceSmart

In other news, EVP Paul Kovaleski sold 1,305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.55, for a total transaction of $149,487.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,938,135.95. This represents a 2.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 550 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.82, for a total transaction of $67,551.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 80,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,892,905.36. This represents a 0.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 22,460 shares of company stock valued at $2,546,968. Company insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

PriceSmart Price Performance

Shares of PriceSmart stock opened at $116.04 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.50. PriceSmart, Inc. has a one year low of $81.25 and a one year high of $125.48. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $119.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $111.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.48 and a beta of 0.84.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by ($0.08). PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.82% and a return on equity of 12.46%. The company had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on PSMT shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of PriceSmart in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of PriceSmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Strong Buy”.

PriceSmart Company Profile

PriceSmart, Inc owns and operates U.S.-style membership shopping warehouse clubs in the United States, Central America, the Caribbean, and Colombia. The company provides basic and private label consumer products under the Member's Selection brand, including groceries, cleaning supplies, health and beauty aids, meat, produce, deli, seafood, and poultry.